GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 154

Fixing The Humanitarian Issue In Gaza

Best Way To Give Aid

During his state of the union speech, Biden said that Israel has a right to defend itself but must help innocent Gazans. It all sounds good, but the reality is that the humanitarian aid isn’t getting to those who need it. We read more about how to solve the issues in an article from CBN.com:

The U.S. and Israel stand at a diplomatic and military crossroads.

Israel says it needs to finish the war against Hamas in the key Gazan city of Rafah, yet the U.S. is threatening that Israel won't be able to use American weapons if Israel launches its military campaign against the Hamas stronghold.

On the northern border, Hezbollah continues to fire rocket volleys on Israeli communities.

In his State of the Union address, President Biden put the burden on Israel to protect Gazans.

“Israel has an added burden because Hamas hides and operates among the civilian population like cowards under hospitals, daycare centers, and all the like. Israel also has a fundamental responsibility, though, to protect innocent civilians in Gaza," Biden declared.

Biden used an old line that isn’t aging well, especially with Israelis:

He added what he says is the solution: "As we look to the future, the only real solution to the situation is a two-state solution (between Israel and the Palestinians) over time.”

The “solution” hasn’t worked once since it’s been tried and after October 7th, they’ve said that the experiment is over. However as for the aid, we read more on that here:

To increase humanitarian aid to Gaza, the administration announced plans to construct a port in Gaza to bypass the Egyptian border crossing.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio pushed back on that idea on Fox News. “Once you get aid in, who's going to distribute it? Because that's really the factor in place right now," he stated.

Rubio is right. And he added an important fact of what happens to the aid and how to actually fix the problem:

Rubio added, "The only people on the ground with any organization to distribute things are Hamas. So in essence, can they guarantee that we're going to go through all this trouble to put American lives on the line just so aid can be distributed to Hamas – who in turn will then control it like they've controlled everything. There's no Hamas fighters starving to death. And Hamas has no history. None whatsoever. They have zero history of either helping civilians or people. So this is all for show and it's dangerous.”

Rubio says the fastest way to get aid into Gaza is to defeat Hamas.

Netanyahu Agrees

The Prime Minister echoed Rubio’s sentiments as see in the same CBN.com article:

It's a goal Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to Israeli soldiers at a graduation ceremony. His pledge drew cheers.

"Today, I want to tell you, tell you clearly: the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) will continue to operate against all of Hamas's battalions throughout the Strip – and this includes Rafah, Hamas's last stronghold," Netanyahu said to clapping and cheering.

Netanyahu went on to address calls to not attack Rafah with the Bible:

He continued, "Whoever tells us not to operate in Rafah, is telling us to lose the war – and that will not happen. There is international pressure and it is increasing. But it is precisely when the international pressure increases that we must close ranks among ourselves. We must stand together against the attempts to stop the war."

Netanyahu then quoted scripture, saying, "This is what the Psalmist says: 'Who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.' [Psalm 144:1] We are learning the lessons of the fighting and we are planning – with due consideration – the continuation of the war. In the future, we will learn all the lessons of October 7th. We will do so openly and fully. But today we have a clear goal: Achieving total victory in the war."

As we’ve seen in comments from the United States leadership, tensions are running high and it could affect helping Israel with military supplies:

In an unprecedented move, the Biden administration is considering restricting the use of U.S. munitions if Israel launches a military operation into Rafah. An article in The Washington Post quoted former U.S. Ambassador Martin Indyk as saying, “If Israel launches an offensive in Rafah without adequately protecting the displaced civilian population, it may precipitate an unprecedented crisis in U.S.-Israel relations, even involving arms supplies.”

Again, rhetoric without reality as Israel is doing just that and it is ludicrous to think they wouldn’t evacuate citizens first. But I digress. The crisis would only get worse if Hamas isn’t eliminated in Rafah:

Col. Richard Kemp, former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, tells CBN News that would play into the hands of Hamas.

“I think it’s very irresponsible of the United States because President Biden himself and Secretary Blinken have both said that they understand Israel’s need to eliminate Hamas – and to do that, they have to go into Rafah,” Kemp explained. “If they don’t destroy Hamas in Rafah, then effectively they would have survived and will have won the war. They will declare victory. They will still be a major threat to Israel.”

A Coming To Meet Jesus Moment

In a conversation after his state of the union speech, Biden alluded to his relationship with Prime Minister Netanyahu as read in a report from i24news.tv:

The friction between President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to the fore once again Friday, as the U.S. leader was captured on a hot mic saying that he and the Israeli premier will need to have a “come to Jesus meeting.”

The comments by Biden came as he spoke with Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., on the floor of the House chamber following Thursday night's State of the Union address.

The context seemed to be about getting aid to Gazans:

In the exchange, Bennet congratulates Biden on his speech and urges the president to keep pressing Netanyahu on growing humanitarian concerns in Gaza. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg were also part of the brief conversation.

Biden then responds using Netanyahu's nickname, saying, “I told him, Bibi, and don’t repeat this, but you and I are going to have a ‘come to Jesus’ meeting.”

Biden was told that his comments were done with a mic that was still on:

An aide to the president standing nearby then speaks quietly into the president’s ear, appearing to alert Biden that microphones remained on as he worked the room.

In a post on X, we can see the video of the exchange and what Biden said once he knew the mic was hot:

“I’m on a hot mic here. Good. That’s good.”

I wonder if he would say the same thing to the leader of Hamas because in a few weeks that meeting could be coming.

Is There Really A Food Shortage?

In a major faux pas, five Gazans died as a result of US aid air drops as we read in a report from The Jerusalem Post:

At least five people in Gaza have been reported dead on Friday afternoon after being hit by aid packages airdropped by the US, according to Israeli media citing Gaza reports.

According to the reports, the parachutes on the humanitarian aid packages did not open.

Aside from those killed, it has been reported that several others have been injured by the fall of the aid packages.

It is unfortunate that good intentions actually took lives they were meant to save. But the question we should be asking is if there really is a hunger crisis as we read in another report from The Jerusalem Post:

“The food shortage and use of the word ‘hunger’ have been exaggerated,” a senior Israeli defense official told me on Thursday during a briefing. “There is no hunger in Gaza,” he said, explaining that most of the food that Israel has been sending into the Strip has “immediately been taken by Hamas terrorists, who then sell some of the supplies for ten times more than what it’s worth.”

He said that “every family has enough food to survive. Are they eating five meals a day? The answer is no. We have been supplying them with aid as well as the US, but unfortunately, it wasn’t distributed to the citizens themselves.”

The report goes on to point out the real issue, one that no one appears willing to address:

A former senior Israeli defense official who I spoke to on condition of anonymity has also said that “there is no food shortage in Gaza; there are those who are hungry since Hamas has taken all of the food and they don’t have enough money to pay Hamas on the black market.”

According to this former official, the food does not reach those who need it most since Hamas controls approximately 70-80% of the area. What happens is that Israel and foreign countries bring food and aid into Gaza. Then gangs take the supplies at gunpoint, and a significant portion of the population is left unable to afford necessities.

The report offers this advice:

Hamas controls an enormous amount of food and aid. If it had allowed the citizens of Gaza to have access to this aid, the situation would have been very different – but they don’t care about their citizens but want them to starve because it helps them create their false narrative.

We cannot fall into such a narrative, and we need to tell the world the truth. This may be the only way for the citizens of Gaza, who are deprived of food, to receive what they rightfully deserve.

As Senator Rubio said, if you want to improve the situation in Gaza, you need to take control from Hamas.